(The following list of Arkansas quarries is not a complete list of all of the historical quarries in the state, only the ones I have been able to locate. If you know of more historical quarries in Arkansas, please contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo)

“Founded near Cushman, Independence County, Arkansas, in 1906, the Arkansas Lime Company began as the Young Lime Company. The name was later changed to the Case-Young Lime Company the following year. George Case and his son Junius Case controlled the company at that time, and they incorporated the company as the Arkansas Lime Company in 1910. In 1924 George Weigart, a mining engineer, recommended that the firm be relocated to a site west of Batesville at Limedale, where the company was located in 2002. The company name was changed to Batesville White Lime Company. Control of the company changed again in the 1930s when it came under the control of investors located outside of the area. The Batesville White Lime Company became a subsidiary of Rangaire Corporation of Texas in 1962 at which time it was merged with two other local lime companies. The company was named the Arkansas Lime Company in 2002, and it was a subsidiary of the United States Lime and Materials of Dallas, Texas.”

Independence County, Arkansas - Oran McBride Stone Co. Limestone, Marble, and Sandstone Quarries. In 1995 Oran McBride Stone Co. owned three limestone, marble, and sandstone quarries in Independence County. At that time the headquarters was in Batesville, Arkansas. (From United States Geological Survey, "Mineral Industries Surveys - Directory of Principal Dimension Stone Producers in the United States in 1995," prepared in January 1997.)

“With a history dating back to the 1800s, the Ozark Southern Stone quarry in Beaver, AR, has produced limestone for classic structures in the area and continues to supply current projects across the U.S…..”

(Photo captions) “The Ozark Southern Stone quarry was originally established as the Eureka Stone Co. in 1883 by Benjamin J. Rosewater. In 2007, it was bought by Lowell and Debra Johnson, who continue to run it today.” “The site spans 30 acres and produces four varieties of limestone: Navajo Cream, Variegated, Sky Blue and Southern Blend.” “The stone extraction process involves drilling holes every 8 to 10 inches, depending on the layer. “We pour in a product called Dexpan, which is a non-explosive agent,” explained Lowell Johnson. ‘It expands and does not shock the rest of the rock. We have 90% usable rock, unlike blasting which fractures a lot of stone.’” “On average, the limestone blocks extracted from the quarry weigh between 7,000 to 8,000 pounds.” “Once blocks are extracted, they are used for a host of stone products. In this picture, a quarry worker is sizing the stone for natural steps.” “Minimizing its waste material, the company makes products out of its overburden.” “Limestone blocks are split into veneer with a Stone Mason from Cee-Jay Tool Co., Inc.” Among Ozark Southern Stone’s recent projects was the Planner Hill Park and Ride where its Southern Blend with a split finish was used.” “This wall was built with the Navajo Cream variety and hand pitched.”

Belle Point, Arkansas, Stone Quarry, presented by the Fort Smith National Historic Site. After Congress authorized reoccupation and enlargement of the post at Fort Smith, a stone quarry was opened at Belle Point.

This photograph is available on the Missouri Digital Heritage web site – Powers Museum. The “Description” of the photograph is: “Curtis Wright not only had mine and limestone quarry interests within the Tri-State Mineral District, he also owned slate quarries to the south in Arkansas near Big Fork (located east of Mena). In this image two men are pictured Wright’s slate quarry otherwise known as Southwestern Slate Manufacturing Company.”

Blue Springs, Arkansas – The Old Coleman Quartz Crystal Mine, presented by Ron Coleman Mining, Inc.(This web site is currently under construction - February 2004.)

Eureka Springs (near), Arkansas – Limestone, sandstone, granite and marble quarries near Eureka Springs. “The City of Eureka Springs” This site is presented by the City of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. (The following quote is used with permission of the City of Eureka Springs.)

“Brick and stone, particularly limestone, sandstone, granite and marble quarried from the surrounding vicinity, were now included in the construction fabric...Granite and limestone walls were used to terrace the hillsides for construction and landscaping.”

The Bull Shoals Dam, of Bull Shoals Dam, by Glenn Johnson in OzarksWatch, 1996 (photographs and history) There was a seven-mile-long conveyer belt used to carry crushed rock from a quarry near Flippin, Arkansas, to the Dam site. The rock quarry was located on the Wilson farm on Lee's Mountain.

Hot Springs, Garland County, Arkansas – Arkansas Novaculite: A Virtual Comparative Collection, Arkansas Archeological Survey, a division of the University of Arkansas System. (Sections include: “Novaculite as Whetstone Rock,” “History of the Whetstone Industry in the Hot Springs Area,” “Current Commercial Uses for Novaculite,” “Preserving History,” and a list of references about the history of whetstone mining in Arkansas.)

“Quartz crystal mines and novaculite (whetstone) quarries are found in the vicinity of Hot Springs. Maps and guidebooks of the area are available at the National Park Service office in Hot Springs. Good-quality novaculite once produced most of our whetstones. Even today (circa 1967) when synthetic abrasives are in common use, special tools and fine surgical instruments are often sharpened on novaculite. Historians report that the first hone stone was quarried near Magnet Cove prior to 1818.”

Indian Mountain, Arkansas – Novaculite Quarries, presented by the article "Indian Mountain, Across from Gulpha Gorge An Asset of the Caddo Indians," by Dr. Rando Ph.D. of Wit on the Hot Springs National Park web site. The novaculite in these quarries range from white to grayish-black in color. (A map is included on this web site.) You can view a photograph of one of the Novaculite sites in the article "House on the Ricks Estate (Fordyce)," photos courtesy of Rodney Harrell. (Scroll down to the novaculite quarry site photograph.)

According to the web site, the Schwartz Stone Company was founded in 1949 in Paris, Arkansas, as a family-owned and operated company. The “base of operations is located on the original quarry site in Logan County, Arkansas with yards and sales office in Springdale. The company also quarries sandstone in Logan County.

“Arkansas is a natural state, with beautiful hills and countrysides. Magnet Cove Stone is located on land homesteaded in 1836 and it is a privilege to invite you to share in a portion of our Family History. Robert D. Parker is the proprietor and quarry master of Magnet Cove Stone.

“Magnet Cove, Arkansas in Hot Spring County located on Highway 270-B is the home of the largest known deposit of Novaculite in the world. Its commercial use is primarily in the industrial finishing and honing of metal tools and instruments. Magnet Cove Stone offers (4) different grades of stones to choose from all found in one quarry!”

“Marble Falls” today known as “Dogpatch,” Newton County – the Washington Monument Marble Quarry (photograph and history) This site, presented on The Arkansas Roadside Travelogue, offers a lot of information on Marble Falls area and the two stones contributed by the local quarries to the Washington Monument in Washington, D. C. The older photograph of the memorial below on the right was contributed by Russell T. Johnson. The most recent photograph on the left was contributed by Abby Burnett. (If you have any information about the exact location of the place from which the stone was taken, please contact me. Peggy B. Perazzo.)

Memorial to the Arkansas stone contributed to the Washington Monument (Photograph by Abby Burnett)

“The American Company is putting in new hoisting machinery and also erecting mill machinery, which was hauled from the Atlas Slate Company’s mill.

“One piece of the machinery, the polishing bed, is an iron disk twelve feet in diameter and four inches thick. This is estimated to weigh close to ten tons, or 20,000 pounds. It will be placed on a big log wagon with horses sufficient attached to draw it over the hills.”

The Atlas Slate Company, of Mena, Ark., will try the experiment of putting out red slate “black” boards for schools. The company claims that the red color will be easier on the eyes of the pupils than black. The Arkansas slate has excellent cleavage.

Ouachita National Forest (near), Montgomery County – the
“Blue Hole” Quarry (reportedly Slate) (today
an informal swimming hole) (Note: This is probably
not the original quarry name but a name used today for the
swimming hole.)

According to the web site, the Schwartz Stone Company was founded in 1949 in Paris, Arkansas, as a family-owned and operated company. The “base of operations is located on the original quarry site in Logan County, Arkansas with yards and sales office in Springdale. The company also quarries sandstone in Logan County.

“Rainbow Stone Company is an Arkansas flagstone quarry located in Subiaco, AR. Since 1973, Rainbow Stone Company has offered natural Arkansas flagstone and building stone to contractors, architects, and stone yards. The business is family owned and operated and located in Subiaco, Arkansas just East of Ozark and Paris on Highway 22. (Their) product line includes Arkansas Flagstone, Building Stone, Veneer, and Arkansas Fieldstone. (The company) operates 4 quarries in the River Valley, each producing a unique stone.”